Dermatome blade assembly guard

ABSTRACT

A dermatome having a main body, a blade assembly and a blade guard, where the blade assembly has a blade edge and the blade guard has a base and a fence extending from the base toward the blade assembly so as to face the blade edge. The blade guard may include at least one blade assembly locator to facilitate the alignment of the blade guard with the blade assembly. A blade guard assembled on the blade assembly may operate so as to prevent unintended contact between the blade edge and objects.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/180,977, filed Jul. 12, 2011, the entirecontents of which is herein incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure is directed to dermatomes for surgically harvestinggrafts of skin. More particularly, the disclosure is directed toprotective guard assemblies for dermatome blade assemblies.

BACKGROUND

Conventional dermatomes are used for cutting skin tissue to obtaintransplantable skin grafts. A skin graft is a patch of healthy skin thatis harvested from one area of the body or donor site to cover a damagedor skinless area of the body. Typically, a dermatome has a front endholding a flat blade to be placed in contact with a tissue surface and amotor to oscillate the blade from side to side to create a slicingaction which cuts the tissue as the dermatome is moved along the tissuesurface.

SUMMARY

The disclosure is directed to several alternative designs, materials andmethods of manufacturing medical device structures and assemblies.Although it is noted that conventional dermatomes exist, there exists aneed for improvement on those devices.

Accordingly, one illustrative embodiment of the disclosure may include adermatome having a blade assembly and a blade guard. The blade assemblymay have a blade edge and the blade guard may include a fence extendingfrom a base, where the fence may be configured to cover the blade edge.The blade guard may include at least one locator mechanism extendingfrom the base in a similar direction as the fence, where the locator maybe configured to communicate with the blade assembly and orient theblade guard with respect to the blade assembly. The attached bladeassembly and blade guard may be mounted on a main body of a dermatome,after which the blade guard may be removed. At the same or another time,the blade guard may be reconnected to the blade assembly and theconnected blade guard and blade assembly may be removed from thedermatome. Use of the blade guard may allow for handling of a bladeassembly without the risk of an object coming into unintended contactwith the blade edge.

The above summary of some example embodiments is not intended todescribe each disclosed embodiment or every implementation of thedisclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure may be more completely understood in consideration of thefollowing detailed description of various embodiments in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of blade assembly and guardfeatures of a dermatome according to an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a top view of blade assembly and guard features of a dermatomeaccording to an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2A-2A of FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the blade assembly and guard featuresdepicted in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top view of guard features of a dermatome according to anaspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the guard features depicted in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of features of a dermatome accordingto an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a partial exploded perspective view of features of a dermatomeaccording to an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a partial exploded perspective view of features of a dermatomeaccording to an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of steps for an assembly of a dermatomeaccording to an aspect of the disclosure.

While the disclosure is amenable to various modifications andalternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of examplein the drawings and will be described in detail. It should beunderstood, however, that the intention is not to limit aspects of theclaimed disclosure to the particular embodiments described. On thecontrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the claimeddisclosure.

DESCRIPTION

For the following defined terms, these definitions shall be applied,unless a different definition is given in the claims or elsewhere inthis specification.

All numeric values are herein assumed to be modified by the term“about”, whether or not explicitly indicated. The term “about” generallyrefers to a range of numbers that one of skill in the art would considerequivalent to the recited value (i.e., having the same function orresult). In many instances, the term “about” may be indicative asincluding numbers that are rounded to the nearest significant figure.

The recitation of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numberswithin that range (e.g., 1 to 5 includes 1, 1.5, 2, 2.75, 3, 3.80, 4,and 5).

Although some suitable dimensions, ranges and/or values pertaining tovarious components, features and/or specifications are disclosed, one ofskill in the art, incited by the present disclosure, would understanddesired dimensions, ranges and/or values may deviate from thoseexpressly disclosed.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singularforms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the contentclearly dictates otherwise. As used in this specification and theappended claims, the term “or” is generally employed in its senseincluding “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

The following detailed description should be read with reference to thedrawings in which similar elements in different drawings are numberedthe same. The detailed description and the drawings, which are notnecessarily to scale, depict illustrative embodiments and are notintended to limit the scope of the claimed disclosure. The illustrativeembodiments depicted are intended only as exemplary. Selected featuresof any illustrative embodiment may be incorporated into an additionalembodiment unless clearly stated to the contrary.

The present disclosure relates to the subject matter filed by inventorsMark Mahaffey and Bruce Straslicka and contained in the U.S. patentapplication titled DERMATOME BLADE ASSEMBLY having attorney docket no.1001.1004101 and the U.S. patent application titled DERMATOME WITH WIDTHPLATE CAPTURES having attorney docket no. 1001.1006101, both filed onJul. 12, 2011, and which are both expressly incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

Referring to the Figures, dermatome 10 for harvesting grafts of skintissue has a main body 12 connected to a handle 16, as seen in FIGS.6-8. Dermatome 10 may include a blade assembly 40 having a blade 42 anda blade mount 44, where blade 42 has a sharpened blade edge 43. Bladeassembly 40 may have a first side 40 a and a second side 40 b oppositefirst side 40 a, where first side 40 a may face and/or contact a bottomside or surface 18 of main body 12 when blade assembly 40 is mounted onmain body 12, as depicted in FIG. 7. Bottom surface 18 may have a bottomperimeter 19 that therein defines bottom surface 18 and within whichblade assembly 40 may be received.

Dermatome 10 may also include a blade protector or guard 50 capable ofconnecting to blade assembly 40 and preventing unintended contact withblade edge 43. Unintended contact with blade edge 43 may include, but isnot limited to, contact with objects other than objects for which bladeedge 43 is intended to contact. For example, when dermatome 10 isdeveloped for use in skin graft transplant procedures, unintendedcontact may include all contact between objects and blade edge 43 otherthan contact between blade edge 43 and a patch of healthy skin that isto be harvested as a skin graft. Blade guard 50 may have a base 52configured to face second side 40 b of blade assembly 40 and a fence 54that may extend from base 52 in a first direction D′. Fence 54 may takeon any shape or size allowing blade guard 50 to connect to bladeassembly 40. For example, fence 54 may be configured to address, abut,extend parallel to, or generally cover blade edge 43. In the example,blade edge 43 may have a first contour 20, such as a straight contour,and fence 54 may have a second contour 22, such as a straight contour,where second contour 22 may address first contour 20 when guard 50 isaligned or connected to blade assembly 40.

Blade guard 50 may also include at least one locator 58 extending frombase 52 in first direction D′, as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. Locator(s)58 may be blade assembly locators 58 and may be any shape or size. Forexample, locator 58 may be a shape and size capable of orienting bladeguard 50 with respect to blade assembly 40. Moreover, and in theexample, locator 58 may take on any shape or size capable of at leastengaging hole(s) 47 of guard locator 46. Thus, blade assembly locator 58may be a protrusion or detent extending from base 52 in first directionD′, where the protrusion or detent is capable of engaging hole(s) 47. Asseen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, locator 58 may be pointed, cone-shaped orfrustoconical or other shaped protrusions extending in first directionD′. In an example where multiple protrusions are utilized for bladeassembly locator 58, the protrusions may be located at any locationalong base 52 that correspond to respective holes 47 of blade guardlocator 46 while blade assembly 40 and blade guard 50 are properlyaligned or connected.

Blade guard locator 46 may be at least partially defined by bladeassembly 40. Guard locator 46 may take on any shape and size. Forexample, as depicted in FIGS. 1, 2 and 7, guard locator 46 may have atleast one hole 47, where hole(s) 47 may be at least partially defined byblade mount 44 and may extend from second side 40 b toward and/or tofirst side 40 a. In the example, hole(s) 47 may be configured to engageor receive blade assembly locator(s) 58.

As seen in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 7, blade guard 50 may include at least oneconnector 60. Connector(s) 60 may extend from base 52 in first directionD′ and may be any shape or size capable of connecting to blade assembly40. For example, connector(s) 60 may have an extension 60 a extendingperpendicularly from base 52 to a top 60 b extending perpendicularlyfrom extension 60 a and in the direction of blade assembly 40.Connector(s) 60 may be snap connectors or any other connectingmechanism. Connector(s) 60 may be configured to connect to bladeassembly 40 by any means. For example, connector(s) 60 may be connectedto blade assembly 40 through a snap connection; that is, connector(s) 60may bend to allow blade assembly 40 to be pressed into blade guard 50(or connector(s) 60 pressed onto blade assembly 40) and thenconnector(s) 60 may bend back to, or near, an original position, wheretop 60 b may engage first side 40 a of blade assembly 40. Alternativelyor in addition, blade assembly 40 may connect to guard 50 through aslide connection or any other type of connection. For example, bladeassembly 40 may slide into connectors 60 while base 52 of guard 50 isbent or deflected such that guard 50 may be capable of receiving a stakeor button 48 extending toward guard 50 from blade assembly 40 in areceiving hole 62 on base 52 and blade assembly 40 may engage connectors60. In the example, once assembly 40 engages guard 50, base 52 of guard50 may return to, or near, an original configuration. In general,removing guard 50 from a connection with blade assembly 40 may beaccomplished by reversing the connection steps or through anothertechnique or process.

As seen in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2A, connectors 60 may beconfigured such that extensions 60 a may be positioned facing and/orabutting, or otherwise adjacent to side edges of blade assembly 40 withtops 60 b of connectors 60 forming lips positioned on, facing, and/orabutting first side 40 a of blade assembly 40, while base 52 of bladeguard 50 is facing and/or abutting second side 40 b of blade assembly40. Thus, connectors 60 may extend from first side 50 a, which is facingsecond side 40 b of blade assembly 40, around side edges of bladeassembly 40 and engage first side 40 a of blade assembly 40 todetachably couple blade guard 50 to blade assembly 40.

Also shown in FIG. 2A are blade assembly locators 58 (e.g., projections)of blade guard 50 extending into blade guard locators 46 (e.g., holes47) from first side 50 a of base 52 of blade guard 50 facing second side40 b of blade assembly 40.

Blade guard 50 may include stake receiving hole 62 extending throughbase 52. Hole 62 may be at least partially defined by base 52 of guard50 and capable of receiving a button or stake 48 extending from bladeassembly 40 in a second direction D″. Hole 62 may be positioned at anylocation on base 52 so as to be aligned with and configured to receivebutton or stake 48 extending from blade assembly 40. As depicted inFIGS. 1 and 3-7, hole 62 may be located substantially equidistant fromconnectors 60 or blade assembly locators 58, or both. Button or stake 48may extend from blade assembly 40 toward blade guard 50 and blade guard50 may be configured to receive stake 48 in stake receiving hole 62.Stake 48 may be utilized to make a permanent connection between blade 42and blade mount 44 or it may be used for any other purpose or evenexcluded. Stake 48 may be positioned at any location along second side40 b of blade assembly 40 so as to be aligned with and configured toextend into and at least partially through hole 62 of blade guard 50. Inthe event stake or button 48 is excluded, hole 62 may be excluded ormodified to accommodate a different mechanism connecting blade 42 andblade mount 44. As depicted in FIGS. 3, 6 and 7, for example, stake 48may be located substantially equidistant from blade guard locators 46.

As depicted in FIGS. 1-7, blade guard 50 may include capture hole(s) oropening(s) 64. Captures opening(s) 64 may receive plate capture(s) 24extending from main body 12, where capture(s) 24 may be positioned atany location of main body 12 and may extend from bottom surface 18 insecond direction D″ toward blade assembly 40 and guard 50. Captureopening(s) 64 may be at least partially defined by base 52. For example,capture opening 64 may be a hole extending through guard 50 from a firstside 50 a of base 52 to a second side 50 b of base 52. Opening(s) 64 maybe any size or shape capable of receiving plate capture(s) 24therethrough. For example, as seen in FIGS. 1-7, capture opening(s) 64may have a rectangular shape. Captures opening(s) 64 may be positionedon or in guard 50 at any location aligned with capture(s) 24. Forexample, the location of capture openings 64 on or in guard 50 may bedictated by the location of captures 24 extending from main body 12 orthe location of captures 24 may be dictated by the location of thecapture openings 64. There may be as many capture openings 64 as neededto receive capture(s) 24 and to allow guard 50 to remain connected toblade assembly 40 after blade assembly 40 has been mounted to or onbottom surface 18 of main body 12.

As seen in FIGS. 1-7, blade guard 50 may include wings or tabs 66extending beyond the lateral extents of blade assembly 40. Tabs 66 maybe formed integrally with base 52 or tabs 66 may be extensions extendingfrom opposing ends of base 52. In an illustrative aspect, tabs 66 may beintegrally formed with base 52 and may be substantially planar withfirst side 50 a and second side 50 b of base 52. In the example, whentabs are integrally formed from base 52, capture openings 64, connectors60 and blade assembly locators 58 may overlap with or extend onto tabs66.

Blade guard 50, as depicted in FIGS. 1, 3 and 7, may include hole(s) orindent(s) 56 for receiving blade locator(s) 45 of blade assembly 40. Asseen in FIG. 7, blade assembly 40 may include blade locators 45 thatextend from blade mount 44. Blade locators 40 may be positioned at anylocation along blade assembly 40. For example, two blade locators 45 mayextend from blade mount 44, where a first blade locator 45 a extendsfrom a first end 44 a of blade mount 44 toward blade 42 and a secondlocator 45 b extends from a second end 44 b of blade assembly 44 towardblade 42. Blade guard 50 may have indents 56 corresponding to locators45, where indents 56 may be able to receive blade locators 45. Indents56 may allow for a close fitting between guard 50 and blade assembly 40.

Connected guard 50 and blade assembly 40 may be mounted on main body 12such that blade assembly 40 is placed substantially within bottomperimeter 19 and guard 50 extends within and outside of perimeter 19,where tabs 66 are positioned at least partially outside of perimeter 19.Tabs 66 may extend outside of perimeter 19 for any purpose. For example,tabs 66 may extend outside perimeter 19 to facilitate removing guard 50from its connection with blade assembly 40 after placing blade assembly40 in or on main body 12. In the example, when tabs 66 extend outside ofperimeter 19, a force may be applied to tabs 66 in the general seconddirection D″, which may bend base 52 and connector(s) 60 and may causeconnector(s) 60 to disconnect from first side 40 a of blade assembly.The method of utilizing tabs 66 to remove guard 50 from blade assembly40 may allow blade guard 50 to be peeled from the connection with bladeassembly 40. Alternatively or in addition, tabs 66 may be utilized toremove guard 50 from blade assembly 40 through a sliding technique. Forexample, a force may be applied to tabs 66 in the general firstdirection D′ or by squeezing tabs 66 toward a center of base 50 and inthe first direction D′ in order to deflect or bend base 52 to leave aclearance between first side 50 a of guard 50 and button or stake 48. Inthe example, after the clearance is formed between button 48 and guard50, guard 50 may be slid from engagement with blade assembly 40. Insimilar, but generally reversed techniques, tabs 66 may also assist inapplying guard 50 to a mounted blade assembly 40 in order to remove apreviously mounted blade assembly 40 from dermatome 10.

A method of operation S100, as depicted in FIG. 9, may have a first stepS102 where blade guard 50 and blade assembly 40 (which have beenpreviously assembled together) may be mounted on bottom surface 18 ofmain body 12. Assembly 40 and guard 50 may be considered to be mountedonce blade assembly 40 is in stable contact with main body 12, whetherthere is a further connection or not. Blade guard 50 and blade assembly40 may be connected prior to packaging or a user may connect bladeassembly 40 to blade guard 50 prior to handling if guard 50 and assembly40 are received separately. After mounting blade assembly 40 and guard50 on main body 12, blade guard 50 may be removed or separated fromblade assembly 40 and main body 12 in a second step S104. Blade guard 50may be removed from blade assembly 40 by any removal technique. Forexample, a pressure in second direction D″ may be applied to first side50 a of guard 50 at or near tab(s) 66. If more than a single tab 66 isutilized, pressure in second direction D″ may be applied to one or moretabs 66. Pressure applied to tab(s) 66 may cause guard 50 to bend at oneor more positions between connector(s) 60. The bending of guard 50 mayallow connector(s) to disconnect or release from first side 40 a ofblade assembly 40. That is, blade guard 50 may be peeled from mountedblade assembly 40 while being careful not to remove blade assembly 40from main body 12. Alternatively or in addition, a force may be appliedto tabs 66 in the general first direction D′ or by squeezing tabs 66toward a center of base 50 and in the first direction D′ in order todeflect or bend base 52 to leave a clearance between first side 50 a ofguard 50 and button or stake 48, where the clearance may allow forremoving guard 50 from assembly 40 by sliding guard 50 from bladeassembly 40.

In some instances, once blade guard 50 has been removed from dermatome10, a user may connect a width plate 30 to dermatome 10 with a fastener32, as seen in FIG. 8, such that width plate 30 faces second side 40 bof blade assembly 40 and main body 12 or has another orientation withrespect to blade assembly 50 and main body 12. Width plate 30 may beused to limit the width of a skin graft cut by blade 42 during a medicalprocedure or for any other purpose. In some instances, after thedermatome 10 has been used in a medical procedure or at any time it isdesired to remove blade assembly 40 from dermatome 10, width plate 30(that is, if width plate 30 was previously applied to dermatome 10) maybe removed from dermatome 10 and a user may reconnect blade guard 50with blade assembly 40 in a third step S106. In step three S106, bladeassembly locator 58 extending from first side 50 a of blade guard 50 maybe aligned with blade guard locator 46. For example, where bladeassembly locator 58 is a protrusion extending from first side 50 a ofblade guard 50 and blade guard locator 46 is a hole 47, blade guard 50may be aligned with blade assembly 40 by placing blade assembly locator58 within hole 47 of blade guard locator. After aligning blade guard 50and blade assembly 40 by aligning locators 46, 58, or during thealignment, plate capture(s) 24 may be fitted within capture opening(s)64. In addition, fence 54 extending from first side 50 a in firstdirection D′ may be positioned proximate blade edge 43 so as to blockblade edge 43 from any unintended contact with an object. After orduring the aligning and fitting steps, blade guard 50 may be connectedor reconnected to blade assembly 40 through the use of connectors 60extending in first direction D′ from base 52. Connector(s) 60 may beforced to bend or flex around blade assembly 40 and connect to or engagefirst side 40 a of blade assembly 40 when the bending or flexing ceases.Alternatively or in addition, blade assembly 40 may be slid intoconnectors 60 while base 52 of guard 50 is being bent or deflected suchthat guard 50 may be capable of receiving stake or button 48 extendingtoward guard 50 from blade assembly 40 in a receiving hole 62 on base 52and that blade assembly 40 may engage connectors 60. Connector(s) 60 mayfasten to first side 40 a with a snap or slide connection or any othertype of connection while first side 50 a of base 52 of guard 50 facesand/or abuts second side 40 b of blade assembly 40. The step ofreconnecting blade guard 50 to blade assembly 40 may be performed in anymanner so long as the result is that blade guard 50 is blocking bladeedge 43 after making the connection, where fence 54 addresses blade edge43 along substantially an entirety of blade edge 43 or at specifiedintervals or at random intervals as needed to block blade edge 43 fromunintended contact with objects.

In fourth step S108, connected or reconnected blade guard 50 and bladeassembly 40 may be removed from main body 12. Connected blade guard 50and blade assembly 40 may be removed from main body 12 by lifting on tab66 in second direction D″ or through any other technique. For example,another technique may include applying a pressure in second direction D″to first side 40 a of blade assembly 40 by inserting a tool throughdepressions 14 in main body 12 and contacting first side 40 a. As bladeedge 43 is guarded or blocked by fence 54, a user or object will notcome into any unintended contact with blade edge 43 during mounting orremoval of blade edge from dermatome 10. In addition, blade assembly 40may be received and/or disposed of with blade guard 50 attached thereto,which further prevents any unintended contact with blade edge 43 priorto using blade assembly 40 with dermatome 10 or after blade assembly 40is removed from dermatome 10.

The disclosed device and methods of using eliminate direct handling ofan exposed blade edge 43 both before inserting the blade assembly 40into dermatome 10 and when removing the inserted blade assembly 40 fromdermatome 10. The protector or guard 50 device protects the blade edge43 during sterilization, transportation, storage, insertion, removal andblade disposal. That is, the disclosed device allows the blade guard orprotector 50 to stay attached to blade assembly 40 during handling andonly needs to be removed after the blade assembly 40 has been correctlyinserted into the dermatome device. Blade protector or guard 50 can beplaced back over blade assembly 40 on main body 12 after blade assembly40 is no longer needed and prior to its removal from main body 12. Theattached blade protector or guard 50 may be disposed of with a spent orused blade assembly 40.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present disclosure maybe manifested in a variety of forms other than the specific embodimentsdescribed and contemplated herein. Accordingly, departure in form anddetail may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure as described in the appended claims.

1. (canceled)
 2. An assembly for a dermatome comprising: a bladeassembly having a first side and a second side opposite the first side,the blade assembly including: a blade having a sharpened blade edge; ablade guard including: a base configured to face the second side of theblade assembly; a fence extending from the base in a first direction,the fence configured to extend proximate to and cover the sharpenedblade edge; at least one locator extending from the base in the firstdirection and configured to orient the blade guard with respect to theblade assembly.
 3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the blade guardincludes first and second connectors extending from the base in thefirst direction, wherein the first and second connectors are configuredto extend around opposing lateral edges of the blade assembly to couplethe blade guard to the blade assembly with the base facing the secondside of the blade assembly while portions of the first and secondconnectors contact the first side of the blade assembly.
 4. The assemblyof claim 3, wherein the blade guard includes first and second tabsextending from first and second ends of the blade guard, the first andsecond tabs extending laterally beyond the opposing lateral edges of theblade assembly.
 5. The assembly of claim 4, wherein the at least onelocator includes first and second protrusions extending from the base inthe first direction, and the blade assembly includes a pair of openingsconfigured to receive the first and second protrusions therein to orientthe blade guard with the blade assembly.
 6. The assembly of claim 2,wherein the blade assembly includes a guard locator, and wherein the atleast one locator of the blade guard includes a blade assembly locatorconfigured to engage the guard locator.
 7. The assembly of claim 6,wherein the guard locator is a hole; and wherein the blade assemblylocator is a protrusion extending from the base of the blade guard inthe first direction configured to be received in the hole of the bladeassembly.
 8. The assembly of claim 2, further comprising: at least oneconnector extending from the base in the first direction and configuredto engage the blade assembly.
 9. The assembly of claim 8, wherein the atleast one connector includes a snap configured to engage the first sideof the blade assembly with the base facing the second side of the bladeassembly.
 10. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the blade assemblyincludes a stake extending from the second side in a second directionopposite the first direction, and wherein the blade guard is configuredto receive the stake.
 11. The assembly of claim 10, wherein the bladeguard receives the stake in an opening at least partially defined by thebase.
 12. A dermatome system, comprising: a main body; a blade receivedby the main body and having a sharpened blade edge, wherein the mainbody reciprocates the received blade in a lateral direction with respectto the main body; a blade guard including: a base; a tab extendinglaterally outward from a lateral end of the base; and a fence configuredto protect the sharpened blade edge from unintended contact with anobject.
 13. The dermatome system of claim 12, wherein the blade guardincludes a locator; and wherein the locator and the fence extend fromthe base and extend in a first direction.
 14. The dermatome system ofclaim 13, wherein the main body has a plate capture extending from themain body in a second direction opposite the first direction and isconfigured to be received in a capture opening of the blade guard. 15.The dermatome system of claim 12, wherein the fence extends from thebase to a position adjacent the sharpened blade edge.
 16. The dermatomesystem of claim 12, further comprising: a connector extending from thebase in the first direction for connecting the blade guard to the blade.17. The dermatome system of claim 16, further comprising: a bladeassembly including the blade; wherein the blade assembly has a firstside and a second side opposite the first side, and wherein the baseabuts the second side of the blade assembly and the connector engagesthe first side of the blade assembly.
 18. The dermatome system of claim17, wherein the main body has a bottom perimeter within which the mainbody is configured to receive the blade assembly, and wherein the tab ofthe blade guard extends beyond the bottom perimeter of the main body.19. The dermatome system of claim 12, wherein: the main body includes aplate capture extending from a surface of the main body, the platecapture configured to receive a removal bottom piece; and the bladeguard includes a capture opening configured to receive the plate captureof the main body therein such that the blade assembly is positionableonto the main body with the blade guard attached to the blade assembly.20. The dermatome system of claim 19, wherein the base at leastpartially defines the capture opening.
 21. The dermatome system of claim12, further comprising: a blade assembly including the blade; andwherein: the blade assembly includes an eyelet; and the main bodyincludes an oscillating feature configured to oscillate within theeyelet to reciprocate the blade assembly in a lateral direction.